Sachin Tendulkar's numbers are staggering in both forms of the game, but the margin by which he is ahead of the pack in ODIs is truly mindboggling. Let alone equalling or surpassing some of his records, it's possible that no batsman will even come close to his stats. To start with, Tendulkar's overall ODI aggregate is 18,426, which is almost 35% more than the next-best, Ricky Ponting's 13,704. His 49 ODI centuries is 63% better than the second-highest, Ponting's 30. With Sourav Ganguly, he added 8227 partnership runs, 50% more than Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya's 5462. His 26 century stands with Ganguly is 62.5% better than the 16 that Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist managed. (There are several others - biggest partnership, most matches, most Man-of-the-Match awards, for example - which are available with a few clicks on ESPNcricinfo's record pages.)

Tendulkar was able to create such a distance between him and the next-best by, obviously, playing over a long period - his is the longest career in ODI history - but also by doing so at a ridiculously high standard almost throughout that period. It helped also, that he opened the innings through most of his career as an ODI batsman, which gave him the best opportunity to score runs and rack up hundreds. His outstanding batsmanship, which combined tight defence with an ability to score freely all round the wicket with minimal risk against different bowling attacks in different conditions, ensured he maximised those opportunities to score runs. Along the way he also became the first batsman to score 200 in an ODI innings.

Tendulkar's ODI career changed when he moved from the middle order to open the innings. The first time he did so was in his fifth match of 1994, against New Zealand in Auckland. He scored 82 off 49 balls - a strike rate of 167.34 - in a match in which no other batsman who faced more than 12 balls managed a rate of 75. India won the match with 160 balls to spare - their eighth-largest victory margin in terms of balls remaining - and it was clear that India had unearthed an option which could be of immense value to them in limited-overs cricket. None could have imagined at the time, though, that Tendulkar would end with such staggering numbers.

From the moment he started opening, his ODI career graph swung upwards and stayed high almost throughout his career. From March 27, 1994, which was the first time he opened, he averaged 47.08 in 394 matches, at a strike rate of 87.71. During this period he didn't open the batting in 50 matches, and in those games his average fell to 36.70.

Sachin Tendulkar's ODI career

Period

ODIs

Runs

Average

Strike rate

100s/ 50s

Before 1994

65

1679

31.09

74.32

0/ 12

1994 to Dec 2000

198

8220

45.66

88.96

27/ 38

Jan 2001 onwards

200

8527

48.17

86.41

22/ 46

Career

463

18,426

44.83

86.23

49/ 96

The opening act
Among all openers who scored 8000-plus ODI runs, Tendulkar's average is the highest; in fact, even with a 6000-run cut-off, no opener has an average of more than 42 - Gary Kirsten's 41.80 is the second-best. Apart from the high average and strike rate, the other stat that stands out for Tendulkar is his conversion rate of fifties into hundreds: he has 45 centuries and 75 half-centuries, a fifties to hundreds ratio of 1.67. Among openers with at least 6000 runs, the only ones with comparable ratios were Herschelle Gibbs (18 centuries and 24 fifties, ratio 1.33) and Saeed Anwar (20 hundreds and 37 fifties, ratio 1.85). All the others had ratios of more than two, with some of the top names (Haynes, Ganguly, Gilchrist) scoring three fifties per century. Thus, while it's true that Tendulkar was given the opportunity to make big scores thanks to his batting position, he also utilised that much better than most other openers.

Openers with more than 8000 runs in ODIs

Batsman

Innings

Runs

Average

Strike rate

100s/ 50s

Sachin Tendulkar

340

15,310

48.29

88.05

45/ 75

Sanath Jayasuriya

383

12,740

34.61

92.48

28/ 66

Adam Gilchrist

259

9200

36.50

98.02

16/ 53

Sourav Ganguly

236

9146

41.57

73.59

19/ 58

Desmond Haynes

237

8648

41.37

63.09

17/ 57

Chris Gayle

217

8184

40.71

84.83

20/ 44

Saeed Anwar

220

8156

39.98

79.93

20/ 37

Australia's tormentor
Tendulkar was often at his best against the best team of his generation, Australia. He scored 3077 runs against them at 44.59, which is 36% more than the second-best aggregate against them. The highlights were obviously the 143 and 134 in Sharjah in 1998, a year which was his best in ODIs: he scored 1894 runs at 65.31, including nine centuries. Both, the runs scored and the hundreds remain a record for a calendar year.

Even apart from those two Sharjah classics, he had seven hundreds against Australia, the last one being 175 - his highest against Australia - three years ago in Hyderabad. Tendulkar's nine hundreds is also record for a batsman against one opposition. (Tendulkar also has eight hundreds against Sri Lanka, while no other batsman has more than seven against an opposition.)

The one glitch in Tendulkar's stats, though, are his ODI numbers in Australia: just one century in 46 innings, and a below-par average of 34.67. Unlike in Tests, where he averages more than 50 against Australia both home and away, in ODIs Tendulkar's best against them came in the subcontinent: in Asia he average 55.30 against them in 40 innings, with eight centuries, but outside Asia he averaged 29.82 against them, with one century in 30 innings.

Highest run-scorers in ODIs against Australia

Batsman

ODIs

Runs

Average

Strike rate

100s/ 50s

Sachin Tendulkar

71

3077

44.59

84.74

9/ 15

Desmond Haynes

64

2262

40.39

65.14

6/ 13

Viv Richards

54

2187

50.86

84.63

3/ 20

Brian Lara

51

1858

39.53

76.58

3/ 15

Kumar Sangakkara

44

1706

42.65

77.02

1/ 12

Jacques Kallis

50

1660

34.58

72.87

1/ 13

Jonty Rhodes

55

1610

40.25

77.92

0/ 10

Richie Richardson

51

1498

32.56

63.26

0/ 15

World Cup superstar
In the biggest tournament in the format, Tendulkar was usually at his best. His overall World Cup tally of 2278 is the best, and he is also the only batsman to twice aggregate more than 500 in a World Cup tournament - he scored 673 in 2003, a record for a single World Cup, and 523 in 1996. Only four other batsmen have touched 500 even once in a World Cup. Tendulkar's nine Man-of-the-Match awards is also a World Cup record, three clear of the second-placed Glenn McGrath.

Apart from his World Cup heroics, Tendulkar also finished with a great record in tournament finals, though there was a period between 1999 and 2004 when he appeared to struggle in them. Overall he averaged more than 54 in tournament finals, with six hundreds in 39 innings.

Highest averages among batsmen with 1000+ runs in World Cups

Batsman

Innings

Runs

Average

Strike rate

100s/ 50s

Viv Richards

21

1013

63.31

85.05

3/ 5

Sachin Tendulkar

44

2278

56.95

88.98

6/ 15

Herschelle Gibbs

23

1067

56.15

87.38

2/ 8

Sourav Ganguly

21

1006

55.88

77.50

4/ 3

Mark Waugh

22

1004

52.84

83.73

4/ 4

Jacques Kallis

32

1148

45.92

74.40

1/ 9

Ricky Ponting

42

1743

45.86

79.95

5/ 6

Javed Miandad

30

1083

43.32

68.02

1/ 8

Brian Lara

33

1225

42.24

86.26

2/ 7

The matchwinner
It was often said about Tendulkar that his big scores didn't lead to team wins, but stats reveal something quite different: Tendulkar scored 33 of his 49 centuries in wins, and averaged more than 56 in team wins, at a strike rate of 90. Among those who scored at least 5000 runs in wins, only Lara and Richards have higher averages. In terms of hundreds scored in wins, Ponting is next with 25.

However, it's also true that Tendulkar's 14 centuries in defeats is a record too, five clear of Chris Gayle, who's next with nine. In defeats, though, Tendulkar's average dropped to 33.25 at a strike rate of 79.86. Clearly, in the overall context of his lengthy career, his runs led to wins more often that not. As mentioned earlier, no player has won as many Man-of-the-Match awards either - Tendulkar has 62, while the next-best is Jayasuriya with 48.

Highest averages in wins in ODIs (Qual: 5000 runs in wins)

Batsman

Innings

Runs

Average

Strike rate

100s/ 50s

Brian Lara

134

6553

61.82

86.32

16/ 42

Viv Richards

114

5129

56.98

93.01

11/ 32

Sachin Tendulkar

231

11,157

56.63

90.31

33/ 59

Mohammad Yousuf

151

6426

55.87

78.59

14/ 41

Sourav Ganguly

147

6938

55.06

77.87

18/ 41

Michael Clarke

134

5084

52.95

80.62

4/ 42

Partnerships, and percentage of team runs scored
With Ganguly, Tendulkar added 8227 partnership runs at 47.55, with 26 century stands - the runs scored and the hundred stands are the highest. Tendulkar also put together 4000-plus runs with Virender Sehwag (4387 runs at 39.16) and Rahul Dravid (4117 runs at 44.26). Tendulkar's thus the only batsman to put together 4000-plus runs with three different partners; Ganguly and Dravid are the only others to do so with two different partners.

Overall, Tendulkar scored 19.24% of the total bat runs that India scored in the matches he played in his entire ODI career (18,426 runs out of 95,765). After he first opened the batting on March 27, 1994, the percentage increased to 20.08 (16,668 out of 83,008). For Ganguly, that percentage was 17.61%, for Haynes 19.58, for Anwar 18.19, for Hayden 17.49 and for Gayle 18.41%.

Apart from his obvious batting exploits, there was also Tendulkar the bowler, who chipped in quite usefully more than once. His 154 ODI wickets puts him in 11th place among Indian bowlers, just one short of Ashish Nehra and three away from Manoj Prabhakar.

Viv Richards was more devastating
Hayden was more destructive
Ponting finished more games
Lara won more games "single-handedly"
Dravid was more reliable
Kallis is a better all-round cricketer
Ganguly was a better leader

There you go.......thats what it takes to beat Sachin Tendulkar. A clone of the above players......and more!
And just FYI, I dont consider him to be God like others. Just another human being, who showed us that we humans can play God.

POSTED BY
vxttemp
on | December 24, 2012, 15:37 GMT

I never really understood the pressure on Sampras until I was awaiting for my results and everyone was expecting me to get top rank. Mine was just a college. Imagine a billion people expecting a 100 every time he goes. Think about the bowling attack of India from 1989.

POSTED BY
Integrity1
on | December 26, 2012, 21:47 GMT

Tendulkar is the God of patha wickets! Scoring centuries off fearsome attacks on lively pitches like India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka!

POSTED BY
Integrity1
on | December 26, 2012, 21:46 GMT

Jacques Kallis is the TRUE God of cricket. Batting, bowling and fielding. SRT is a false prophet!

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 26, 2012, 18:48 GMT

@Jonty King: On what basis do you say that it was Sachin who did not fancy it? You were not privy to the discussions the team would have had at that time. May be Sachin said yes to opening but Dravid felt he was more suited to do it and so asked for it? May be the captain and coach too felt Dravid was most suitable for the job. I now ask you one thing - why did Dravid never ask for the ball when India were in the need of wickets? Why was Sachin the usual go-to bowler to break partnerships when India needed wickets? Why does Sachin have 154 ODI wickets while Dravid has none (may be 2-3). Does this mean Dravid was not concerned about the team? If anything this shows that Sachin was keen to contribute to the team's cause as a batsman as well as a bowler while Dravid wanted to contribute as a batsman only - at most 1 position higher at very rare times. The answer for this is, they all do what they can do the best. Dravid can open much better & Sachin can bowl much better. End of Story.

POSTED BY
boxer44
on | December 26, 2012, 16:38 GMT

Why do people even continue to rate Sir Don Bradman in the same class as SRT and BCL? Bradman played in two countries and against England almost always. He never played in sub-continent or West Indies, or even South Africa. No denying he was good but even Stuart Broad has at least 1 run scored in the Caribbean.

POSTED BY
akhanna5686
on | December 26, 2012, 15:16 GMT

@ bowman11....mate, I haven't seen anyone make a more blatant contradiction of ideas in the same post as you. On the one hand, you claim that most of SRT's records are because of his longevity and his average is falling "b/c everyones does once they are past their best as SRT is well & truely". And in the very next paragraph, you are claiming that "All the above batsman would have similar records to SRT if they played for 23 years".....If everyone's average falls once they are past their best, then how can others have "similar records to SRT" if they played for 23 years? Or are you making the outrageous claim that all of these batsmen would have scored at exactly the same rate for the duration of their careers in today's hectic schedules in as many venues against as many opposition as SRT has played in? Look, there is no denying that Bradman is the greatest of them all but you are seriously kidding only yourself if you don't believe that SRT is one of the top 5-6 batsmen of all time.

POSTED BY
supacricfan
on | December 26, 2012, 14:31 GMT

SRT is the best batsman ever!!carrying burden of more than a billion people is astonishing!!no cricketer EVER had that burden..He has received standing ovation everytime he went out to bat in ENG,AUS,SA for the past 3 tours..have u seen any other batsmen get the same respect?! not even their own players received such applause..POWER of SRT!!agree with HANIF MOHAMMAD,legendery pak cricketer saying that he is better than BRADMAN..listen to the comments of the greats who have played the game rather than voicing ur pointless opinions!!

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 26, 2012, 14:30 GMT

@alarky - xyz played in this position, abc played in that ground... but tell me who is GOD of cricket?? is there any one person u recommend, then we can have little talk... all said and done why is none having avg MOM better than the SRT (a.k.a GOD)...76 in 650 matches...

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 26, 2012, 14:15 GMT

@bowman11 - read all the comments/history of God, at once before you start...here comes one with stats again.. the bogus stats.. multiply by 4, divide by 3, add few 100s, ignore the stats of those ground, consider only the even dates etc etc....ONE simple question, why were your greats UNABLE to play after whatever time they played? did SRT go and stop them all???? but to talk in ur own mathematics terms (or law of nature), if they had played a little more they wud have had all their avgs down...as age will bring that down...so simple state can be an avg-MOM, GOD has 76 in 650odd matches...in all aspects SRT = GOD, period.....

POSTED BY
1MAK7
on | December 25, 2012, 10:35 GMT

Viv Richards was more devastating
Hayden was more destructive
Ponting finished more games
Lara won more games "single-handedly"
Dravid was more reliable
Kallis is a better all-round cricketer
Ganguly was a better leader

There you go.......thats what it takes to beat Sachin Tendulkar. A clone of the above players......and more!
And just FYI, I dont consider him to be God like others. Just another human being, who showed us that we humans can play God.

POSTED BY
vxttemp
on | December 24, 2012, 15:37 GMT

I never really understood the pressure on Sampras until I was awaiting for my results and everyone was expecting me to get top rank. Mine was just a college. Imagine a billion people expecting a 100 every time he goes. Think about the bowling attack of India from 1989.

POSTED BY
Integrity1
on | December 26, 2012, 21:47 GMT

Tendulkar is the God of patha wickets! Scoring centuries off fearsome attacks on lively pitches like India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka!

POSTED BY
Integrity1
on | December 26, 2012, 21:46 GMT

Jacques Kallis is the TRUE God of cricket. Batting, bowling and fielding. SRT is a false prophet!

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 26, 2012, 18:48 GMT

@Jonty King: On what basis do you say that it was Sachin who did not fancy it? You were not privy to the discussions the team would have had at that time. May be Sachin said yes to opening but Dravid felt he was more suited to do it and so asked for it? May be the captain and coach too felt Dravid was most suitable for the job. I now ask you one thing - why did Dravid never ask for the ball when India were in the need of wickets? Why was Sachin the usual go-to bowler to break partnerships when India needed wickets? Why does Sachin have 154 ODI wickets while Dravid has none (may be 2-3). Does this mean Dravid was not concerned about the team? If anything this shows that Sachin was keen to contribute to the team's cause as a batsman as well as a bowler while Dravid wanted to contribute as a batsman only - at most 1 position higher at very rare times. The answer for this is, they all do what they can do the best. Dravid can open much better & Sachin can bowl much better. End of Story.

POSTED BY
boxer44
on | December 26, 2012, 16:38 GMT

Why do people even continue to rate Sir Don Bradman in the same class as SRT and BCL? Bradman played in two countries and against England almost always. He never played in sub-continent or West Indies, or even South Africa. No denying he was good but even Stuart Broad has at least 1 run scored in the Caribbean.

POSTED BY
akhanna5686
on | December 26, 2012, 15:16 GMT

@ bowman11....mate, I haven't seen anyone make a more blatant contradiction of ideas in the same post as you. On the one hand, you claim that most of SRT's records are because of his longevity and his average is falling "b/c everyones does once they are past their best as SRT is well & truely". And in the very next paragraph, you are claiming that "All the above batsman would have similar records to SRT if they played for 23 years".....If everyone's average falls once they are past their best, then how can others have "similar records to SRT" if they played for 23 years? Or are you making the outrageous claim that all of these batsmen would have scored at exactly the same rate for the duration of their careers in today's hectic schedules in as many venues against as many opposition as SRT has played in? Look, there is no denying that Bradman is the greatest of them all but you are seriously kidding only yourself if you don't believe that SRT is one of the top 5-6 batsmen of all time.

POSTED BY
supacricfan
on | December 26, 2012, 14:31 GMT

SRT is the best batsman ever!!carrying burden of more than a billion people is astonishing!!no cricketer EVER had that burden..He has received standing ovation everytime he went out to bat in ENG,AUS,SA for the past 3 tours..have u seen any other batsmen get the same respect?! not even their own players received such applause..POWER of SRT!!agree with HANIF MOHAMMAD,legendery pak cricketer saying that he is better than BRADMAN..listen to the comments of the greats who have played the game rather than voicing ur pointless opinions!!

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 26, 2012, 14:30 GMT

@alarky - xyz played in this position, abc played in that ground... but tell me who is GOD of cricket?? is there any one person u recommend, then we can have little talk... all said and done why is none having avg MOM better than the SRT (a.k.a GOD)...76 in 650 matches...

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 26, 2012, 14:15 GMT

@bowman11 - read all the comments/history of God, at once before you start...here comes one with stats again.. the bogus stats.. multiply by 4, divide by 3, add few 100s, ignore the stats of those ground, consider only the even dates etc etc....ONE simple question, why were your greats UNABLE to play after whatever time they played? did SRT go and stop them all???? but to talk in ur own mathematics terms (or law of nature), if they had played a little more they wud have had all their avgs down...as age will bring that down...so simple state can be an avg-MOM, GOD has 76 in 650odd matches...in all aspects SRT = GOD, period.....

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 26, 2012, 14:08 GMT

@Jonty King - if MoMs are subjective, why others did nt get??? when it comes to SRT all things are normal.. but none of your greats could achieve the same... enuff said SRT is the BOSS/ GOD / Maestro..PERIOD..........

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 26, 2012, 14:04 GMT

Some ppl here say that Sachin has got these records only cos he played for 23 years (and somehow a 23 year long career does not count, so does that mean a 6 month long career is the best for eg Basit Ali?). I want you to check out how the other stand up vis-a-vis Sachin when it comes to reaching the landmarks. IIRC Sachin has reached 9k, 10k, 11k, 12k, 13k in both formats faster than anyone else. So it is clear that even at mutually equal points in career Sachin has had the better of the others. Yep there will always be someone who will beat Sachin on one parameter or the other but on a whole, Sachin is miles ahead. Based on his record, most ppl would say Sachin is the greatest ODI player of all times and most of the rest would say he is def among the top 3 of all times. It would be a highly biased person or a very blind person who would not see Sachin as either the greatest ODI batsman of all times or amongst the top 2 or 3.....

POSTED BY
alarky
on | December 26, 2012, 13:32 GMT

This article has revealed inadvertently, Tendulkar's wanton INCOMPLETENESS AS A BATSMAN; which ironically debunks all that Cricinfo and others have written. I never understood what they mean by saying, "he's the most complete batsman of his generation"! The reason being, that when most of his peers of his generation (eg Dravid) have been requested at impromptu notice, to bat in any position, they often did so with performances extraordinaire; but he has proven that he just can't do it! Look at his stats in the middle order in ODIs, and at any other position than No. 4 in test matches - the stats expose a very WEAK PLAYER outside of his comfort zone positions. The best definition of a COMPLETE batsman is one who performs with distinction in any position, anytime. Examples: Sir Don Bradman made BIG runs even at No.7. And best comparison: The Gt Brian Lara made BIG runs both as an opener and in the middle order in ODIs; and has performed extraordinaire in various positions in test matches

POSTED BY
ptal3
on | December 26, 2012, 11:54 GMT

@Harmony111: Agree with you mate. Its not only about how many runs you score or wickets you take, its also about how you go about doing it. Kallis, Dravid, Chanderpaul etc. are accumulators. In other words, they don't drive crowds crazy. They make you yawn, though highly effective. Lara/Ponting/Sachin have destroyed bowling attacks apart, they are crowd pullers and make youngters take cricket up. Watch Sachin's hundreds on youtube of the 90s, highly entertaning and jaw dropping.

POSTED BY
bowman11
on | December 26, 2012, 11:53 GMT

BRADMAN, Pollock, Headley, Sutcliffe. Paynter, Barrington, Weekes, Hammond, Sobers, Hobbs, Kallis, Walcott, Hutton, Sangakkara and Tyldersley all have better Test Averages than SRT. The only records Tendulkar holds are the ones because of his longevity & inability to retire - of course his average is falling b/c everyones does once they are past their best as SRT is well & truely.

All the above batsman would have similar records to SRT if they played for 23 years EXCEPT for one - Donald George Bradman Batted 80 times in tests for 7000 runs - SRT has had 320 innings [4 times as many] for 15645 runs. Multiply 7000 runs by 4 = 28000 runs and you will see how far superior "The Mighty Midgit" is compared to SRT.
Don't forget how bat technology is better now [defensive shots go for 4] - they bring the boundaries in now to make it easier for batsmen - The Don might average 150 in todays batsmens climate!!
As SRT has said many times there are batsmen & then BRADMAN.. End of story!

POSTED BY
on | December 26, 2012, 11:18 GMT

@ deathknell. MoM awards are subjective, For example, far too often these days a player on the losing side isn't considered for the award when the actuality is if that player on the losing (much weaker side) hadn't playe, the contest would have been a landslide.( ps Viv Richards as a higher MoM ratio than Tendulkar btw)
Purely on batmanship, anyone who doesn't consider Bradman the greatest batsman of all time needs their head looking at. And in my opinion SRT is a selfish player: terribly slow in t20 and in test matches, when someone was injured and say Dravid had to open for example, VVS, who was a fine middle order player, was made to come in a n.3 because SRT didn't fancy it. Looking at the style of play and shot making, that was definitely because he was looking after his average as opposed to the balance of the team

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 26, 2012, 10:42 GMT

@Jonty, Integrity... etc etc.. answer me 76 MoMs in 650odd matches... ?? who is the boss... part-timers are people who play only tests well, or who only pinch hits in slog over or only on even dates, only english summer..so on.. God is one who is consistent on all aspects of game (+ on & off the field, caught the imagination of entire world, generated interest in cricket to masses, many who wanted to be one like him & on & on)...most importantly as above (MoMs)..who was adjudged the best player most consistently, could have been 100s more if any other player (bats/bowlr) did a justifiable stint in those matches..PERIOD...

POSTED BY
on | December 26, 2012, 10:19 GMT

@ deathknell in particular. Firstly I hold SRT in very high regard and certainly am not needlessly knocking.
eg I consider him a more complete batsman than say Ponting, Sanga, Kallis or Lara when when considering all forms of the game. (though I do consider Lara the better Test batsman, just a little worse over all)
I also probably consider him the 2nd best ODI batsman of all time just through his amazing consistency. Viv Richards was just better, scored amazingly fast for the time, with worse bats and more bowler friendly rules. Bowlers feared him... imagine pretty much the best parts of sehwag and srt combined.
Now on to test critcket. Kallis is a god; J Kallis is the greatest test cricketer of this age, possibly any. Higher test av than Tendulkar, nearly 300 wickets and a brilliant slipper. You mention your opinion, but I back up my argument with facts

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 26, 2012, 10:12 GMT

@Integrity1: Remind me of a memorable knock by Jacques Kallis before you call him better than Sachin or even a Great Batsman -- read this again pls.

I admire Kallis for his talents but TBH he is neither a batsman who will win you matches nor a bowler who will win you matches. Kallis becomes imp only when taken in the dual role of a batsman and bowler. From that PoV, Kallis is a better all rounder than anyone else we have seen and may be better than Sobers too but Kallis the batsman or Kallis the bowler is hardly sufficiently good enough to be ranked amongst the all time greats. Poor Kallis gets propped up and then goes down each time when he is compared to Sachin or other great batsmen and it then affects his image. Kallis is a top class all rounder and a very good batsman - that's about it. Players like Ponting and Lara are miles ahead of him on the greatness quotient. Also note that while Kallis has a slightly higher avg than Sachin & others his S/R is 45. Factor that too.

POSTED BY
Integrity1
on | December 26, 2012, 9:39 GMT

@DeathKnell: Cricket consists of 3 disciplines, batting, bowling and fielding. Tendulkar, by virtue of the number of matches he has played, has more runs than Kallis. Kallis outshines Tendulkar in bowling and fielding. Kallis has a better batting average than Tendulkar, is in better form than Tendulkar right now and could beat Tendulkar's test run tally by the time Kallis's career is over. Now, you tell me who the REAL God of cricket is. Jacques Kallis!

P.S. If you consider someone with almost 300 test wickets, close to 200 catches and over 12 000 test runs to be a "part-timer", then I feel very sorry for you.

*Please post Cricinfo*

POSTED BY
Bruisers
on | December 26, 2012, 9:23 GMT

Comparing Kallis/Lara/Dravid/Ponting to Tendulkar is somewhat acceptable. But we have someone who is comparing Jayasuriya to Tendulkar!! LOL. Really made me laugh. That person's cricket IQ is minus 100.. xD

POSTED BY
ptal3
on | December 26, 2012, 7:32 GMT

A lot of people compare Kallis and Sanga average with Tendu, that they have better averages. They tend to forget that Tendu peaked at 59.08 during the West Indies tour of 2002. Ponting also touched 60.00 during 2006/07, at his peak. He recently retired at 51.85. Kallis and Sanga are their peak and their average can only go down from here before they hang in their boots.

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 26, 2012, 7:14 GMT

@RandyOZ - yes all aussies/ all players can win a match for their countries..and all try to do the way the God-of-Cricket did (76 MOMs in 650 Odd Matches)...

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 26, 2012, 7:11 GMT

@Integrity1 - your post shud read -
Tendulkar is the GREATEST PLAYER of our generation... AFTER "THAT" Jacques Kallis.
we dont care who is after SRT.. cos there are 100s of part-timers in the game, who all fight for something & try to match one or two aspects of Maestro or the God-of-Cricket....

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 26, 2012, 7:08 GMT

@LakmalPhysics - till now u were saying SRT is nothing & his records are nothing...suddenly u say that it is only for 5 more years.. and there are many who will take over...why shud someone take over a non-existent greatness ..in other words he is the greatest till someone goes past him..(in your own terms... ) u think it is in next 5 yrs, whole world was thinking the same for the past 3 decades.... everytime I see your post, I just rofl.......ha ha ha.. so that is called the God-of-Cricket.. (76 MOM in 650 odd Matches)...hope he has started tormenting you in ur dreams as well, now u started writing some sense...soon u will understand that it will not happen in next 5 decades and then in the entire history...

POSTED BY
Integrity1
on | December 26, 2012, 2:52 GMT

Tendulkar is the GREATEST PLAYER of our generation... AFTER Jacques Kallis.

POSTED BY
RandyOZ
on | December 26, 2012, 1:48 GMT

They forgot to mention that gilchrist and lara could actually win a match for their country.

POSTED BY
LakmalPhysics
on | December 25, 2012, 23:25 GMT

@DeathKnell: You can live with your dreams five more years, Then you are done.
Look like already most of the Indians have realized that SRT is not the greatest batsman. A few like you still backing him. But the situation was not like this couple of years back like during the last world cup. Anyway live with your dreams five more years. Tendulkars all test records are in danger.

POSTED BY
Cricket_Fan_And_Analyst
on | December 25, 2012, 22:40 GMT

Sachin is unlucky to have missed out on the worst bowling attack and fielding unit of his time - INDIA. Ricky Ponting and Viv Richards are lucky in that regard. They didn't have to play the best bowling attack of their times. Sachin would have scored another 10 ODI centuries had he played against India.

POSTED BY
on | December 25, 2012, 22:17 GMT

@Uppercut07 Is there any comparision beetween below stats for Sachin and Sanath against best bowling attacks during this period? . In below analysis provided the strike rates also (some people thinks that sanath is more destructive but there isn't much differnce between them)

Don't forget Uppercut is the shot which is famous for Sachin playing that shot too effective against Akthar, Lee and other Fast bowlers

POSTED BY
LakmalPhysics
on | December 25, 2012, 22:14 GMT

@DeathKnell: You can live with your dreams five more years, Then you are done.
Look like already most of the Indians have realized that SRT is not the greatest batsman. A few like you still backing him. But the situation was not like this couple of years back like during the last world cup. Anyway live with your dreams five more years. Tendulkars all test records are in danger.

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 25, 2012, 22:13 GMT

@ Uppercut07: Ya ya, Sanath won a truckload of cups and series for Sl as captain, right?

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 25, 2012, 21:20 GMT

@Jonty King - you are the one who is blind to talk abt Kallis here.. others do fine here..sachin is god - the complete player.. Period - no argument

POSTED BY
warneneverchuck
on | December 25, 2012, 18:51 GMT

If Sanath is better than Sachin then oja is better than warne. I didn't say murli for obvious reasons as he was never a international bowler

POSTED BY
on | December 25, 2012, 16:07 GMT

I realise that this article is about ODI but indian fans are so blind in all areas in SRT so just to remind them. J Kallis is the greatest test cricketer of this age, possibly any. Higher test av than Tendulkar, nearly 300 wickets and a brilliant slipper. nuff said, there is no counter arguement!

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 25, 2012, 14:21 GMT

@Uppercut07 - all know who lost it... needless to say....all I hear from you (& only you) is Sanath is everything...ok live with that dream forever... haha ha...next u r going to say Sanga is better than Maestro because tomorrow he is gonna cross 10K mark...waiting for another comedy series from you soon....

POSTED BY
Uppercut07
on | December 25, 2012, 14:09 GMT

@deathknell, looks like u ve absolutely lost it now. :D) it's ok man, we know Sanath is no match, cus Sanath was BETTER!

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 25, 2012, 13:35 GMT

@Uppercut07 - what the heck man.. whats the point abt humility (if that needs to be discussed, then SRT will be again among the greats who were humble being so successful) what did those things bring (Sanath's runs/wkts/catches etc etc), those brought a win to the country every 10th game...whereas SRT brought win every 7th game....whichever way u try..Sanath is NO MATCH to the maestro....PERIOD...

POSTED BY
Uppercut07
on | December 25, 2012, 13:11 GMT

@deathknell, u can ask Don or Viv, they wud still say Sachin is better, no one s gonna say 'yes i am the best',, that's called humility.

all am saying is Sanath has RUNS,WICKETS & CATHES, Captaincy, while Sachin ONLY has runs!! :)

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 25, 2012, 12:47 GMT

@Uppercut07 - the hard time is for you to bring underachievers infront of Maestro..u can conclude whatever u want.. but tell me why SRT has better MOM-avg than Sanath....Sanath is a pinch hitter like Gayle, Gilly, Y.pathan etc.. SRT is the dictionary of cricket where pinch hitting topic may have few pages...got it... the more u talk the more you expose your ignorance.. even Sanath himself, bows to Maestro..go & ask him rather than troll-ing here..

POSTED BY
kamran.afzal
on | December 25, 2012, 10:53 GMT

@karthik_raja ... I was just trying to make a point about why the claim is consistently made about his centuries not winning matches... I should've mentioned that it doesn't take much away from the great batsman that he was... arguably the best of our generation...

POSTED BY
Badra48
on | December 25, 2012, 10:06 GMT

Had Tendulkar been in an indian team that has first class bowling and fielding sides, he'd have scored lot more. And even more if there weren't lots of expectations of his play from the country. Highlighting one flaw doesn't make him from being called a great batsman.

Putting the side in a comfortable position is as good as recovering back from a worse situation, I feel

POSTED BY
Uppercut07
on | December 25, 2012, 10:05 GMT

@deathknell, it's obvious that ur r having a hard time comprehending wat am saying. So be it.

But whoever else seen the points i have made, wud ve understood that, Sachin might be a more succesfull batsman, but SANATH is the better ODI player overall.

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 25, 2012, 9:35 GMT

@Uppercut07 - Time & again you prove my point better than myself..thanks for that...so that shows the greatness of the player...that even a winning team member could not get a MoM that was his contribution to team & match..where he has to be given MOM..that still makes that Sachin gets MoM every 7th match & Sanath gets at 10th match...ha ha ha..

POSTED BY
on | December 25, 2012, 8:13 GMT

He is the greatest player who ever played cricket. Stats are in his favour, even without stats he is a true gentleman on and off the field.If you don't believe it now you never will.

Tendulkar is God of cricket.

POSTED BY
30-30-150
on | December 25, 2012, 7:48 GMT

Bul98 is a sad hater. Ignore him guys.

POSTED BY
CricFan24
on | December 25, 2012, 7:21 GMT

Sachin = GBAT = Greatest Batsman of all Time....Period.

POSTED BY
memoriesofthepast
on | December 25, 2012, 6:41 GMT

Personal records are seen by the Indian cricket team selection committee as a key to remain in the team for 23 years. However the match result depends on the performance of all the 11 members of the team relative to the 11 members of the opponent. India never had consistently challenging bowlers like McGrath or Akram or Marshall. India has been a poor fielding side. Sachin's batting was a valuable contributor in India competing toughly in 50-over game and reaching the finals of 2003 and 2011 WC's. The person who has a right to find flaws or feel jealous about Sachin is the one who has stayed fit for at least 23 years, played less than 463 games of 50 overs but scoring at least 18000 runs in them and in parallel played less than 194 test matches but scoring at least 15000 runs internationally.Then even Bradman becomes a midget against Tendulkar. Those who are trying to degrade or envy Sachin have realized that his records may remain unbroken.

POSTED BY
NAP73
on | December 25, 2012, 6:26 GMT

It is a bit of an anti-climax now as T20 is taking over the ODI space. ODIs are proceeding on their path to extinction. It also shows that there has been a glut of ODIs - perhaps a reason for people becoming bored with the concept. Still, Tnedulkar has been the best batsman in the ODI game apart from possibly a certain Viv Richards. Mind you, I think Kallis is the best cricketer overall due to his bowling, batting and catching skills - the complete cricketer and Saf will slide backwards when he retires down the track (but that will be a while yet).

POSTED BY
bowman11
on | December 25, 2012, 4:51 GMT

SRT is an ex champion Test Player who should retire. His last 5 test series, batting at the easier position of number 4, have been terrible. He has averaged 18/21/35/43/34 in these series. His last 30 bats are at an average of 31.77. He looks like he is in it for himself. He now fields way out in the outfield & is a protected species. Every other country would tap him on the shoulder & say it is time. I'm amazed he won't do the honorable thing by his team & country.
Give it away b/c your image is becoming increasingly tarnished.

POSTED BY
on | December 25, 2012, 4:19 GMT

cricket is not cricket without this man.He tought me what cricket is. GOD OF CRICKET..only man in this world who deserves all these records!!

POSTED BY
ptal3
on | December 25, 2012, 3:15 GMT

@bul98: I didn't think you read the article properly. Read The matchwinner section, he is 3rd on the list. Ponting doesn't even appear. It also says he averages 54 in tournament finals. 33 of this 49 centuries led to India winning. To last 23 years is a sign of greatness. How many cricketers can start so early and last that long? Its easy to be on the top of your game for only a 2-3 year period. Longetivity is a trait of a legend. Admire.

POSTED BY
IAS2009
on | December 24, 2012, 23:57 GMT

i am not going to say SRT is not one of the best, but i will say Viv Richards is the best and way ahead of the pack, they way he scored runs no one did at that time, against very good quality fast bowling and not so friendly ODI pitches and rules which are very friendly to batsman like we have now, if he had played that many ODI like most do he would have passed 20K runs, I think Ganguly and SRT at top of the order was the main factor India win so many ODI, if they had better bowlers India could have won lot more ODI during that era. Ganguly make them believe India could beat any team anywhere.

POSTED BY
Attractivue
on | December 24, 2012, 23:44 GMT

He is good but not the greatest!

POSTED BY
bul98
on | December 24, 2012, 20:10 GMT

SRT will remember a player who played just for his personal records. Ponting, Lara, Inzamam, Kallis, KP had always performed better in crunh time and a winner's for their team. SRT played for 23 yrs, so ofcourse he will have all the records (it's not a rocket science) bur he still does not want to retire from all (Tes) cricket after two plus yrs of no peformance says all about him that he does not care about India future and team just his perosnal glory..nf said!

POSTED BY
Harmony111
on | December 24, 2012, 19:42 GMT

@ karthik_raja: Lovely lovely point. Sachin is the gold standard. He is the dollar. He is the benchmark everyone gets compared to. You never heard anyone ever mentioning Sanath was the best batsman in the world; most dangerous yes but not the best batsman. Same is true for most of the others. Only a few ppl have been good enough to be called the best. Not only was Sachin the best batsman for a significant period of time he did not fell back like others - he went one level up and became the best ever. Sachin moved on from being a promising batsman to a good to a great batsman. And one day he became a legend. TBH I dont know when quite he became a legend. 92 WC he won MoM vs Pak. 1993's Cricket Samrat described Sachin as "Cricket Jagat Ka Wonderboy". By 1995 we already expected him to score regular 100s in the NZ ODI series. By 96 he was our backbone. Now, 1996 was 16 years back !!! 16 YEARS. Toddlers became Fathers in that time & he lasted 7 yrs more than that. Sachin -- GOLD STANDARD.

POSTED BY
on | December 24, 2012, 19:06 GMT

Sorry but Viv Richards is easily the best ODI batsman ever. Scored runs at a modern rate when nobody else of the time did, with a far from modern bat. Bowlers feared him like no other. It is a no contest.

POSTED BY
TheXI
on | December 24, 2012, 18:49 GMT

For all those wondering how he did against non-minnows (no difference from overall record).

@Pradeep Anandraj: Even people put fingers on Lord Ram. But He forgave everyone. People crucified Jesus Christ. But He forgave them. Even now some people (only 0.000001% of people) raise their fingers on Sachin. But He will also forgive them. This is what great people do, they do not get irritated. They know these idiots will someday become quiet but their true followers (even 1% of total people) will respect and honour them.

POSTED BY
on | December 24, 2012, 18:01 GMT

this guy is a true legend!

POSTED BY
pawaramol22
on | December 24, 2012, 17:34 GMT

There are two types of people, first who appreciate what Tendulkar has done for Indian and world cricket and second who are simply jealous of his success.

POSTED BY
Andrabi10
on | December 24, 2012, 17:24 GMT

As a Pakistani even i have to say: this guy is a true legend!

POSTED BY
Chandrurec5
on | December 24, 2012, 16:51 GMT

Averages are for the average minded. Numbers are for numb people. SRT, was never comfortable at No.4 (for instance Natwest dismissal to Giles), and out of sorts mentally when situation demanded it. Pressure is not just tough bowling, but easy bowling but do or die situations also. Always opened so that the 'average' and 'numb'ers can be on his side. Gilchrist and Ponting have centuries (of course against weaker attacks some might argue, but again if the distance is so much away from the pack..., then SRT have scored against AUS in the finals) but SRT has only 4 in WC final, 18 in another. He tries 100% every match, gets the averages. People like Ponting, Gilchrist, Warne, Aravind De Silva can lift their game to a different level when it matters and only when it matters.

POSTED BY
Uppercut07
on | December 24, 2012, 16:34 GMT

@deathknell, i can garuantee u that India have NOT WON every match, that Sachin was MoM! Pretty sure at least in 10 of his MoM awards, India did not win the match

so ur argument of sachin winning every 7th match(MoM)is not relevant.

POSTED BY
OzWally
on | December 24, 2012, 16:12 GMT

Seen a few comments suggesting you HAVE to be the greatest to last 23 years (or words to that effect). Again, I'll preface this by saying I think SRT is one of the greatest ODI players of all time but it is no "slam dunk" he's the best. Many of the earlier greats of the game didn't have the opportunities to play as many ODI's as SRT. And, if you look at the first part of his career - 1st 5 years 1989-94 - he played 65 games @ an ave. of 31.09 and 0 centuries, if he had of been on a good team, he probably would have been dropped and who knows when he may have reclaimed a place. Being on bad teams definitely helped his longevity.

POSTED BY
vxttemp
on | December 24, 2012, 15:52 GMT

Good bye and thanks to a great man. I don't think I'll ever watch any ODI from now on. Maybe I'll watch one or two over when I browse through my TV. Unless someone tells me a new Sachin is born :-) :-) let me see how long or how soon cricket will find. Don ---> Sachin --->??? I don't know whether I would be still alive to see the next guy.. :-)

POSTED BY
vxttemp
on | December 24, 2012, 15:43 GMT

Funniest joke at the end of 2012 from a SL - Sanath the greatest ODI player. How many test centuries entire SL batsmen scored (in the entire SL test history) - By the way, My question is about centuries abroad, not in sub continent. It is one or two more than Sachin scored(again, I'm repeating, sachin's non sub continent centuries).

POSTED BY
vxttemp
on | December 24, 2012, 15:33 GMT

These are some of my last few posts about cricket unless the topic of Tendulkar comes again. Maybe few more left from me when he retires from Test cricket.

POSTED BY
vxttemp
on | December 24, 2012, 15:30 GMT

I still remember the 1999 series in Autralia, Tendulkar got the man of series in a 3-0 whitewash(Laxman scored 160+ when 3-0 was on cards. I never cared about laxman innings but so many so called intelligent people go very high about that innings). How many times an opponent got Man of the series in a white wash?? Even in 1991-92, the way he played in WACA, speak a lot about this guy..

POSTED BY
on | December 24, 2012, 15:28 GMT

It is so sad that a player of Sachin Tendulkar's stature and caliber is being criticised mercilessly. The downsides of his career are
1. His performance dipped in the years 2011 and 2012
2. He could have been a better finisher - but being an opener one cannot expect that from him always. Moreover there are many matches where he brought India to winning position, but the middle order and tail-enders threw the match
3. Most of the matches when India had to chase 300+ score, Sachin used to go out cheaply.

The demerits of Tendulkar's performances are outweighed by his merits. I do not know whether he is the best batsman the world has ever seen, but he is one of the best in the history of cricket. He was a good part-time bowler and a decent fielder. Talking about stats, I personally feel he should have completed 50 100s and 100 50s in ODIs.

He will be a role model for anybody for the way he carried himself on-field and off-field.

India will never get a player like Tendulkar.

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 24, 2012, 15:26 GMT

@Uppercut07 - if Sanath is everything then why he wins a match for his country every 10th game?? where Sachin does that every 7th game... period

POSTED BY
vxttemp
on | December 24, 2012, 15:24 GMT

I still remember on a difficult chennai pitch, with just 16 needed, how pak could wrap up India after Tendulkar's wicket and when chasing 375 against australia lost from where only India could lose.

POSTED BY
vxttemp
on | December 24, 2012, 15:23 GMT

People comparing kallis, ponting, gilly with Tendulkar. Please show me the bowlers of donald, McGrath, Warnie, steyn callibre in Indian bowling line up ever after Tendulkar started playing. Steve waugh and ponting greatness goes a lot to bowlers. On any day, SA/Pak/Aus could defend 200 but how many times Indian bowlers defended in the entire career or Tendulkar.

POSTED BY
vxttemp
on | December 24, 2012, 15:20 GMT

To some who comment on Tendulkar not winning aways games: I'm not sure whether he could win or not But what I'm sure is he played far better than in sub-continent. To win a game, others from the team should also contribute. Most importantly bowlers also. I don't think any other Indian batsmen(maybe laxman, dravid) contributed better than that. Again we all know about the strength of Indian bowling.

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 24, 2012, 15:19 GMT

@LakmalPhysics - now everyone knows how intelligent u are.. viv played, when WI was on top of the world..sachin played when Aus was on top...all greats match an aspect or two of Maestro...viv for MOM, sanath for longevity, ricky for centuries & so on.. but there is only one against whom they want to match all aspects always and you know who... there were a bunch of names that u mentioned that would overtake SRT.. just keep praying before u go to bed.. may be oneday it wud happen in your dream

POSTED BY
Uppercut07
on | December 24, 2012, 15:17 GMT

@deathknell, all indian fans, btw Sanath didn't HAVE to score centuries to WIN games,,, he cud WIN matches with his BOWLING as well!!!

POSTED BY
matchfixerpkn
on | December 24, 2012, 15:12 GMT

LakmalPhysics..seriously some thng is worng...
sangakara is never in that list..
sangakara plays in no. 3 and his strike rate is below 75...where other batsman s strike rate is abovee 95.
sachin maintains 86 strike rate from his begining ..at that time other best have strike rate of 65..

agree or agree... a batsman in no. 3 with strike rate of below 75 strike rate is big blessing for oppsition..hope fully sngakara plays more crikcet to break atleast some reacord of sachin..

POSTED BY
Uppercut07
on | December 24, 2012, 15:05 GMT

@deathknell, the ONLY reason, Sachin has more MoM awards than Sanath is, Sachin started playing international cricket when he is SIXTEEN, and Sanath started playing international cricket when he was TWENTY!!!

not to mention, sanath HAD to bat at NO 7 in the beginning of his career, while Sachin was always given preference all the time in the TOP ORDER!!! MORE OPPORTUNITIES!

POSTED BY
karthik_raja
on | December 24, 2012, 15:00 GMT

@kamran.afzal. To b fair on Rajesh, he did mention abt SRT's 14 centuries in losing cause - the highest, 5 clear of Gayle's 9.. Bt, instead of concentrating just on centuries, why don't we just check for Averages in winning matches - which gives better picture(includes the matches like 98 vs Pak in '03 WC). There's a table already presented in this article which shows he has pretty good average - 56.63 in wins.

@LakmalPhysics , I agree that by virtue of playing more games, he scored these many runs and 100s. Then, why didn't other cricketers play so long and didn't have long career like Sachin's? It's Sachin's fitness and passion for the game which drives him to play each game like a new bee

POSTED BY
matchfixerpkn
on | December 24, 2012, 14:45 GMT

LakmalPhysics..yoiu can argue any thing ..still there is not a sngle cricketer in srilanka who reached half the mark of sachin..thats fact...
even yoiur greatest sangakaras strike rate in one day match still below 70...
dnt put coment jsut to argue bcos india defeated srilanka in last 4 years contnuesly !!!!!!!!!!

POSTED BY
arvija
on | December 24, 2012, 14:01 GMT

I think the matchwinner analysis is not logical! 16 of his centuries ended up in losing means somthing! It is a matter of whether he played for his own landmarks instead of team's...no arguement HE IS A GREAT PLAYER, but personally i think there were instances where he brought the run chase to a stage where if he continues India will win, if he falls then it's too late for others to pull it off....!!

POSTED BY
LakmalPhysics
on | December 24, 2012, 13:57 GMT

@DeathKnell -
..a player shud only win away games...
You are not intelligent enough to understand my point. It's a well known fact that Sachin failed in fast and bouncy pitches. He was a good player in the sub continent. I did not mension that a player should only win away games. But to be the best batsman you must have performed better that the rest under all conditionsdons. Right?

---hy could nt win mes and be on top of the tableto answer all your questions.. there is one MOM table and he is on top of it...
He is on top of the table because he played a long time (more games). Your initial argument was that to consider average MOM awards. In that list Richards is on top.

You are just another die hard Sachin fan who is trying hard to say that he is the best, he was the best blindly. Already Sachin's test records are in danger. Eventually Cook, Kallis, Amla, and Sangakkara will prove these silly Indians that there were better players and even more better players will be there.

POSTED BY
Bruisers
on | December 24, 2012, 13:15 GMT

@EnglishCricket - And take out his 5 centuries against Associate teams like Kenya and Namibia, you still have 44 ODI centuries and around 20 scores between 90-99 against top Test teams.. (six 90s vs Pak, three vs Aus, three vs Eng, five vs SL, three vs SA).. Wonder whether you'll start saying "Aus and Pak also had bowlers who don't know how to bowl properly" LOL :P

POSTED BY
Bruisers
on | December 24, 2012, 13:11 GMT

@EnglishCricket - All of his five centuries against Zimbabwe came in the late 90s, when Zimbabwe had a strong team with a STRONG BOWLING ATTACK. If you say Heath Streak, Eddo Brandes, Paul Strang, Henry Olonga etc didn't know how to bowl "properly", then I can't help but ROFL. LOL man, you crack some great jokes. Hahaha.

POSTED BY
matchfixerpkn
on | December 24, 2012, 12:01 GMT

for last 20 years cricket comparison was between like
who is best ? (after career end of richards,gavaskar,border,gouch,haynes)
sachin or lara ?
lara or hick ?
sachin or mark o ?
sahin or inzy ?
sachin or lara or inzy or anwar ?
next come ...
sachin or ponting ?
sachin or kallis?
ponting or kallis or sachin?
..now amla or kohli?
ajmal or kohli?
amla or clerke?
amla or kallis or koli or kallis or ajaml?..

n these between some grat cricketers come and entertained and vanished likes of afridi,sehwag,gayle,peterson,gilchrist,hayden etc.

in this 20 years have not found any one comparng srilankan jaysuriya or sangakar for top list...
above players avarqages above 40 ...but jayasuriya still not avarage 33 ...
bcso jayasuriya was pincu hitter ..he was belwo avarage batsman even in his career ..
sorry srilankan inteligent fans ...thats truth..
digest it...
here the arguemtn is between sachin,ponting,lara,richars,m wough ,inzamam..

"...often said about Tendulkar that his big scores didn't lead to team wins, but stats reveal something quite different: Tendulkar scored 33 of his 49 centuries in wins, ... Ponting is next with 25." I respected S Rajesh as a statistician.
Here's a definitive stat. Of the 35 batsmen who've scored 10 or more centuries in ODIs, Tendulkar's win percentage of 67% (33 out of 49) sits at the 30th. As a comparison, Gilly, Viv and Amla's century has always resulted in a win. Ponting's century has resulted in a win 83% of the times, Jayasuriya 86%, Ganguly 82%, Gibbs 71%, Lara 84% and Saeed Anwar 80%. The only batsmen with a lot of centuries who's done worse is Gayle (55%).

POSTED BY
matchfixerpkn
on | December 24, 2012, 11:05 GMT

please compare any one ..but dnt bring jayasuriya..his overall avarage is below 33......an avarage above 45 is excelent..40-45 very good..30-35..avarage...below 30 ..poor..
so please dnt bring jayasruiya in this comparison list..he is just one pinchhitter ..not a batsman.

POSTED BY
karthik_raja
on | December 24, 2012, 10:17 GMT

Man. these critics. what a species they are. They can tweak and tweak the numbers as they wish and trying to convey wt is not real. Well. Lemme explain. Every1 has their own favorite batsman. Like Don,Ponting,Viv,Lara,Dravid,Waugh,Kallis,Inzi etc etc. Agreed, each and every one mentioned is gr8 on their own ways. If u clearly observe, none of these gr8s are never compared within that list. Ex-Dravid is never compared with Viv. Ponting is never compared with S.Waugh reg playing with lower middle order and so on. But, each and every single cricket player in this world is compared with SRT(I recently saw some1 comparing Fafduplesis with SRT reg his match winning/saving abilities based on his 1 or 2 match against Aus..) Obviously, every player will want to be compared with THE BEST. This itself concludes who is best amongst the lot. PS - And guess wt, SRT comes on top(or at least one among the top) in most of these comparisons.

POSTED BY
on | December 24, 2012, 10:15 GMT

Tendulkar's 14 centuries in defeats is a record too, five clear of Chris Gayle, who's next with nine. In defeats, though, Tendulkar's average dropped to 33.25 at a strike rate of 79.86..............the only bad patch in his illustrious career. ....runs are runs...you have to make them to be compareable to somebody like sachin

POSTED BY
matchfixerpkn
on | December 24, 2012, 9:45 GMT

rtruth90...javed miandad, micheal bevan, dhoni ..yes best finisher on single hand..but at the same time opposition team also have to get wicket of other 5 batsman from the same team..only by taking wickets of javed miandad, micheal bevan, dhoni no team will win...but in mid 90s and beingnign of 2000..oppositin have to get only one wicket to win match agaisnt india..tahts is sachin ....tahts the differecne..

i still remember ..is sachin out ? ho..then we pakistan won match ...
but i dnt know the day ..where .oh miandad out so pakistan lost ....

POSTED BY
vellupillai
on | December 24, 2012, 9:44 GMT

Stats does not reveal everything,how sachin amassed those runs does not comes into the picture,on many occassion he was ridiculously selfish,i will point some instances,in 1998 in sharjah against ZIMBABWE he has the chance to become the fastest century maker from india beating azhars record when he reached 97 off 57 deliveries the next 3 runs came after 11 deliveries,when he was 194 not out in a test ,and declared by rahul dravid his reaction was really for all to see.The 100th 100 came at the expense of indian loss against minnows bangladesh,so i can only say to this lad.GOOD RIDDANCE.

POSTED BY
ravikb
on | December 24, 2012, 9:20 GMT

Sanath's ODI average is a laughable 35 and some guy is comparing him with Sachin. Bowlers used to celebrate Sanath's wicket even before he steps in the field in non-asian conditions because they know he is a walking wicket.

An average of 35 is considered very good in ODI. So if you actually see he has fared well in all places. Yes of course he has played better under some conditions compared to other conditions.

Can some one give me a name who has done well in all conditions / against all opponents.

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 24, 2012, 9:02 GMT

@rtruth90 - dont get ur point, there are 100 aspects in batting....one who is most consistent in many of the aspects is considered the great or best.. and SRT is one who is on top of that list...why others, whom u mentioned could nt continue to play, why where their avgs so less...?? why they did not win MOMs as good as SRT... there are many questions to be answered.....

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 24, 2012, 8:56 GMT

@KiwiRocker - Viv played the games when WI was on top of the world, SRT played the games when Aus was on top...period... if it is easy to score runs where SRT did, then why did nt other greats score the same way & be on top...

POSTED BY
captain_cook76
on | December 24, 2012, 8:39 GMT

@ rtruth90 Please go through the stats once more and you'll be aware of the greatness of the man. He has the best figures against the best team of his era, the Australians. As far as domination goes you can ask a man who answers to the name of Shane Warne and he would take you through the story in his own style. @ Samar_Singh Sir, you need to also ask yourself that in order to play for long time you have to be good enough to be selected. You can't deny the man this fact that he is still good to play ODIs. He made 200 runs against South Africa when he was 37. Before that innings there was a breath taking 175 in a chase against the aussies which, the other players could not finish. Just get your facts right before you criticize the great man. We are not qualified enough to comment about the credentials of the "GOD".

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 24, 2012, 8:33 GMT

@Uppercut07 - Sanath = Batsman X + bowler Y + Captain Z + ....n, but why is he always next to Sachin in every table... and most importantly why was he given MOM only every 10th match, while SRT was given every 7th.. it is because Sachin wins every 7th game for his country and Sanath takes 10 games...

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 24, 2012, 8:28 GMT

@Xolile - wake up & smell the coffee dude.. if Kallis is so great then why his avg is much lower in the above tables??? against Australia and during wins...on the other hand if SRT cant play certain grounds, then the great bowlers (a.k.a McG, Gilsp,ShW, Amb, WasAk, ImK, AlnDon, ShPok & on & on) cant bowl in certain grounds????? thats your point right???

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 24, 2012, 8:23 GMT

@LakmalPhysics - so whats ur endless analysis bring to the table..a player shud only win away games...if they were so better, then why could nt win home games and be on top of the table... to answerall your questions.. there is one MOM table and he is on top of it... if other greats played more games their avg would only go down or to put it in other words, they were unable to continue and thats why they called it a day.. got it...???

POSTED BY
rtruth90
on | December 24, 2012, 8:07 GMT

Its not the number of centuries in winning cause, its about winning matches from pressure situations single-handedly, like how javed miandad, micheal bevan, dhoni etc have won. Tendulkar might have scored 33 centuries in winning cause, but he is the no.1 in the list for most matches lost overall in the career. please mention this fact also, and also please mentioned those centuries opponents( Kenya, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Namibia etc) and tournaments and situations. i think tendulkar didn't have any pressure in those matches. Sorry all I may be harsh about tendulkar. I do admit that he is the best batsmen as far as technique is concern. but batting-wise I mean dominating innings and dominating bowlers he didn't do like how Gayle, Gilchrist, Richards, Lara etc have done.

POSTED BY
warneneverchuck
on | December 24, 2012, 7:27 GMT

Had he played in a team like which ponting or kallis had his average would have been more than 60 in both formats. Unfortunately played with ordinary team alll the time with poor bowlers who can't get 20 wickets

POSTED BY
on | December 24, 2012, 7:24 GMT

And what about the runs he ran when on the non-striker's end?? :D

POSTED BY
on | December 24, 2012, 7:22 GMT

cont..
As a testimony to it is India's Win/Loss ratio in these two periods, with or without Tendulkar. Before 2000, Sachin's absence has noticeable effect on team results but afterwards there isn't, if anything, its opposite.
India's W/L ratio before 2000 (excluding Zim/Bangla etc)
with Sachin 0.85 and without 0.70
After 2000
1.05 and 1.14 respectively
I think you can draw your own inferences.
About his record outside Asia, less said the better.

POSTED BY
on | December 24, 2012, 7:19 GMT

Sachin's strike rate is about 2.5% higher than his team's SR in the matches in which he played. If one breaks down his performance in two parts, after and before 1st jan 2000, he had scored about 9% faster than his team SR before 2000 and afterwards he has scored about 2.75% slower than the team. In fact after 2000 he has scored 11 centuries in wins and 8 in defeats (Excluding great Zimb/Bangla etc). He was so obsessed with trying to score century that he forgot the whole logic of ODIs that you have to score faster than oppositions. In an era where wickets were becoming flatter he did not accelerate his batting, even got slower(SR of 86+ before 2000 and 85+ afterwards). A great player that he was, it was perplexing to see his inability to read the pitch and play accordingly. His approach was always premeditated as to what speed he was going to play.
cont..

POSTED BY
matchfixerpkn
on | December 24, 2012, 7:17 GMT

except srilankan every one will accept ...

POSTED BY
cenitin
on | December 24, 2012, 6:57 GMT

@uppercut...Percentage of century in win is wrong measure. If a person scored 1 century in 10 matches and won in that 1 match his % will 100. Other person scored 4 century in 10 matches and able to win in 3 matches his % will be 75. For me second person is better
Sachin scored 49 centuries in 463 matches i.e 463/49 = 9.4
He scored a century in every 9.45 matches. Out of this Ind won in 33 matches i.e. because of his century Ind won in every 463/33 = 14 matches. Same figure
for Sanath 445/28 = 15.9 & 445/24 = 18.5
for Ponting 375/30 = 12.5 & 375/25 = 15
for Lara 299/19 = 15.73 & 99/16 = 18.68
for Dravid 344/12 = 28.66 & 344/8 = 43
for Kallis 321/17 = 18.88 & 321/13 = 24.7
for Inzi 378/10 = 37.8 & 378/7 = 54 and
for Anwar 247/20 = 12.35 & 247/16 = 15.43
for V Richards 187/11 = 17 & 187/11 = 17

Clearly Sachin is the greatest match winner. He is in top 2 all time ODI batsman alongwith Richards for all cricket expert. For me he is No1.

POSTED BY
ravi-1967
on | December 24, 2012, 6:31 GMT

Amazing stats. A stats lovers delight. What more can a man ask for. Great acheivement. I am upset that he has hung his boots but it is the right decision. The smile he brought on the face of the fans for the last 23 years is simply out of this world. Who else has achevied this.

We are proud of you Sachin. WIsh that you play well against Australia and call it a day in tests too.

He is greater than Don Bradman. Fortunate to have seen him play.

POSTED BY
matchfixerpkn
on | December 24, 2012, 6:29 GMT

Hush78...lol..where comes sanath as good oneday player..he is just an avarage player..never ever scored runs in australia or s africa or england...

POSTED BY
Samar_Singh
on | December 24, 2012, 6:17 GMT

So GOD also have to retire !!!
For me there are many better players than so called Indian god. If you play for a longer period you are bound to make more runs .. For this generation there is no better all round player than Kallis.. He is the best in the bussiness be it either Test,ODI or 20-20 ..
Tendulkar is a good player but very selfish for personal mile stones.. I can bet if there were no such criticism he would not have retired b4 2015 ...

POSTED BY
Supratik
on | December 24, 2012, 6:04 GMT

One wonders why this perception with many that SRT didn't win matches for India. By all counts he scored 33 100s' in ODI wins when others don't even have that many - win or lose. Strange are the ways with fans. He was no doubt the greatest ODI batsman the world has seen - specially in his pomp from 1994 to 2003. If at all a debate has to be there it should be only with King Viv and no one else, yes even Ponting, who doesn't have that great a record in ODIs in the sub-continent. End of an era Pt 1. At the rate which people are going for his head he might just hang up his boots from Test Matches too. What a sad day it will be.

POSTED BY
BellCurve
on | December 24, 2012, 5:55 GMT

@DeathKnell - Ponting? What about Kallis? He averages 82.85 against India in South Africa. ABdV has a similar average. That show that Tendulkar was not a victim of bad pitches. He simply cannot play when its fast and high.

POSTED BY
on | December 24, 2012, 5:23 GMT

The numbers are for the critics, who believe the game is in numbers only.... The numbers will reveal to them as who was the greatest... For the ardent followers like us, there is never a shade of doubt on the impact and quality of Sachin..... For me, it is "Rest in Peace ODI Cricket, you have been adorned with a great batsman like Sachin Tendulkar. Now just watch the circus with the others left behind."

POSTED BY
on | December 24, 2012, 5:19 GMT

There is only one Master Blaster in Cricket who played for India for 23years....and he was ....he is.....he wl be the only one Master Blaster,Cricket has ever Produced.................

POSTED BY
on | December 24, 2012, 4:21 GMT

I guess the debate of his selfish batting will continue for the rest of his life, he is a legend and people often forget that he is a human being. Richards, Ponting etc etc everyone has their own merits and de-merits..the same ponting has often struggled on indian conditions..for God sake, let people stop comparing him with ther mortals. For the sheer Joy he has provided in his long career, lets respect him. More importantly, he has been a role model for so many. This apart, with so many records he is so simple and modest..thats SACHIN!!!SALUTE TO THE EMPEROR OF WORLD CRICKET..

LONG LIVE SACHIN

POSTED BY
CricFan24
on | December 24, 2012, 4:06 GMT

Greatest batsman of all time

POSTED BY
on | December 24, 2012, 3:42 GMT

@ OzWally, you are right but at the same time look at the strike rate with the average. only very few can match that. And to maintain that over 440 matches is phenomenal.

POSTED BY
KiwiRocker-
on | December 24, 2012, 2:57 GMT

S rajesh- Cheers for good work. This only confrms that how Sir Viv Richards was miles ahead than likes of Tendulya! No one will even come close to Sir Viv Richards. Look at his numbers against Australia and in world cup. tendulkar feasted upon on easy tracks in and around India. His record in Australia against Australia is miserable. His overall record against Pakistan in ODI's is not too special either! In next 3 weeks time, world will move on and people will forget Tendulya but everyone will always remember Sir Viv Richachards. The real king!

POSTED BY
on | December 24, 2012, 2:48 GMT

for people supporting ponting and jayasuriya ...they are bringing numbers which are frail in comparison to Sachin.
i think sachin will be the benchmark for batsmen in the future.

plus all the great players of this era like ponting,hayden,sanath,lara and even
viv richards have said Sachin is a better batsman than them.

btw. he has taken more wickets than both Kumble and Bhajji in ODIs :D)

Therefore Sanath is like Sachin and Kumble in one person in ODIs

POSTED BY
I-Like-Cricket
on | December 24, 2012, 2:37 GMT

I would say that some of the negative comments on this page are unfortunately true (though there's no need to be overly nasty about it). Against "better" bowling attacks outside of Asia, his form was good but not as great as it's made out to be. You could argue why didn't other batsmen average the same as him in India, well the answer to that is simple, he's the best Indian player ever, no doubt, but you can't expect someone like Ponting or Richards to come from their usual pitches with bounce and pace to play on Indian dustbowls and play well, which is of course how I'd argue for his stats outside of Asia. Though the thing that does irritate me, is the fact that so much is made about his stats like 100, 100s, he scored 1/5 of those against teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe even his 100th came against Bangladesh. Where as players such as Punter and Richards rarely got to play these teams and they constantly played the best teams (that weren't their own) of their generations.

POSTED BY
on | December 24, 2012, 2:01 GMT

Tendulkar is great for Indians only. They might worship him!! But do not forget he played 23 freaking years of his 40 years of life to achieve this runs. He did not want to retire!! He wanted to keep playing and gather more runs to STATISTICS. He is a typical Indian boy, who brings a GOOD REPORT CARD from school to his parents. LONGEVITY matters!! I mean not his size!! His career duration of 23 years to gather these numbers. Any regular cricketer without any good talent can reach these numbers in 23 years and 463 matches!! Sanath Jayasuriya started his career as a Spinner, no. 6 batsman scored 13,400 runs in 445 matches. Later he was brought as a OPENER with Kalu for a explosive start in first 15 overs. Then Jayasuriya started to accumulated more runs to his STAT book. If he were an opener like Sachin from 1989 , Sanath also has 18,000 runs with his longevity. Its Common Sense!!Same as Ricky, If he played more games in Sub-continent in 23 years ,he'd have 20,000 runs!Do not worship!

POSTED BY
LakmalPhysics
on | December 24, 2012, 1:34 GMT

@DeathKnell: In short, Richards MOM awards per match is better than Sachin ( remember Richards played less matches). Interestingly in away games( home of the opposition) it is 4.4 and 13.36 of Richards and Sachins respectively. Even, Pontings MOM per game in away games (12) is better than your hero.

POSTED BY
inefekt
on | December 24, 2012, 0:32 GMT

@OzWally
This is exactly right, if you play nigh on 500 ODI games opening the batting you are going to accumulate a ton of runs. If you surveyed most players I think they'd rather have Ponting's career, 3 world cup wins is so much more important than accumulation of statistics through longevity.

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 23:44 GMT

Amazing Stats. Some people wrongly attribute all his stats to his longevity. The maximum aggregate and average in a Calendar year is still a record which doesn't have anything to do with his longevity but only to do with his talent/ability.

The kind of excitement he used to bring is totally different. Very few people can do that now to the game. All these new generation Kohlis and Rainas are not even half as good as him. Probably Sehwag is one guy who can be compared to him but he is more heroic and less consistent than sachin

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 23:40 GMT

@EnglishCricket - he was not the only batsman who scored centuries against weak times; but for arguments' sake, even if you take those out, his no. of centuries is still way ahead of what anybody else managed in their careers. I rest my case.

POSTED BY
kitten
on | December 23, 2012, 23:10 GMT

@OzWALLY 'But be careful with how you look at the numbers, by reading above you would think his ODI career was Bradmenesque; however, a quick look at the numbers shows many current and former players have better career averages - Kallis, Hussey, Clarke, de Villiers, & even Dhoni'. Mate, you must remember that to maintain these high averages over a period of time requires tremendous talent. Let us see how the above gentlemen perform over a similar period of time, and then we can rightly judge. We must allow take into account Bradman only performed against a few countries, and not all over the world like ST has, under different conditions. So ST's achievements are indeed one to applaud. I take my hat off to him, and wish to add my thanks for all the wonderful memories over the years. Tendulkar, I wish you and your family all the very best for the future.

POSTED BY
cricfan_aus
on | December 23, 2012, 22:59 GMT

@EnglishCricket, The way you say is that anyone can score a century against Bangladesh or Kenya, then why not all the eng players score a century when they play against the weaker teams. Please, you dont need to be his fan to appreciate what he achieved and how many people he influenced and stand as role model. Just for your satisfaction and also mentioned in the above article he scored 9 centuries against aus and 8 against Srilanka. Againt Ban, kenya and Zim combined he scored 10 centuries.

POSTED BY
OzWally
on | December 23, 2012, 22:16 GMT

Firstly, congratulations on an unbelievable career to a legend of the game. But be careful with how you look at the numbers, by reading above you would think his ODI career was Bradmenesque; however, a quick look at the numbers shows many current and former players have better career averages - Kallis, Hussey, Clarke, de Villiers, & even Dhoni. Not to mention Greenidge, Richards, Bevan. Tendulkar's brilliance was in career longevity - 23 years, which explains the distance from Ponting in total runs scored.

POSTED BY
EnglishCricket
on | December 23, 2012, 22:08 GMT

@Alekhya Gadwal - So its okay for you Indian fans to say teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh need to be removed from full status but okay for your players to score 100s against please!! 1/5 of his 100 100 have comes against opposition who have weak bowling attacks in other words didn't know how to bowl properly and basically gift free runs for batsman.

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 23, 2012, 21:24 GMT

@LakmalPhysics - great going dude...why dont you do the same for all players then..if so & so comb,ination is made then his avg is less, if xyz ground is picked then he made ducks etc.. all these dont matter.. who got MOM every seventh match that is what it matters.. if sub-continent grounds are easy to score why not other greats score there and be on top of the table..?? either with runs scored/ centuries or avg MOMs

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 23, 2012, 21:15 GMT

@Xolile - I just wondered how ricky fared in Aus (home grounds) against India (weakest bowling unit) - and you know what it is a whopping 28.33 .. hope you like it...hope you know now that you should nt use stats for your convenience.......

POSTED BY
LakmalPhysics
on | December 23, 2012, 20:49 GMT

Well, I would rate Richards and Ponting ahead of Sachin in ODIs. Why because there are several facts that you can not find in this article. True, Sachin has a good average and strike rate; but mainly thanks to home games and sub Continent games. He struggled a lot in pacy and bouncy pitches and against good face bolwers like Aktar and Wasim. And his records away from sub contiment is very poor. Both Richards and Ponting have better averages and strike rates in away games( play at the home of opposition). His average against better pace bowling attacks is very poor. For example in Australia, Pakistan and South africa it is 30.83, 36.92 and 25.13. In england too his average is little bit better because he has not played in england last five years and before that england had a poor bowling attack. There are many more factors tell you he is not the best. So I bet only Indians will show his videos to their kids and say l" see, he is the best", but not other intelligent nations.

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 20:46 GMT

Hashim Amla and Cook have the potential to equal or better Sachin at present. Maybe even Kohli in ODI's.

POSTED BY
kalyanbk
on | December 23, 2012, 20:44 GMT

@Usman - Tendulkar scored his runs and centuries at a time when the bowlers had a lot of class. McGrath, Ambrose, Warne, Murali, Akram, Waqar, Pollock, Donald. Many times he was playing a solo hand and knew the game ended when he was out. Amla (not taking anything away) has the advantage of playing for the team with the best bowling attack (Steyn and Morkel) and with all due respect to current bowlers, they are not the same class as the ones listed above. By all means celebrate your favorite player but respect the greatness of this man-child who bore the expectations of a fifth of humanity.

POSTED BY
Nadeem1976
on | December 23, 2012, 20:25 GMT

Tendulkar was created to break every record in ODI cricket and he did break those records. He won every thing. Perfect example of Genius. No body not even Wasim Akram is bigger ODI cricketer than Tendulkar. Tendulkar is great ODI player by stats and stature. ODI cricket will never see a batsman of this kind in 100 years. End of greatest ODI era.

POSTED BY
ShortGully
on | December 23, 2012, 20:24 GMT

In any team, if an opening batsmen scored a century with strike rate more than 80 and still it losses the match then who is to blame ? the centurion are the remaining 10 team members..? SRT is the main reason in India for producing so many good young batsman..! also, because of him everybody want to be a batsman.. no real good bowlers to inspire young people..! My hearty wishes for rest of his life..! a rest he really deserves it...! after 23 years of Travel/Hotel life..! We are proud of you SRT..! we are not watching Cricket for Stats or comparison..! We just enjoyed and loved watching you play for India..!

POSTED BY
Hush78
on | December 23, 2012, 20:24 GMT

Well I believe sachin was the best batter in odi's which he achieved over a long period of time.but I do agree 50% with uppercut07 on sanaths ability to win matches by bat, ball or field.but considering time and length sachin has maintain his ability I would not put sanath as the best ever odi player but would put him togethr with sachinon that regard specially since sangha superiority in bowling & fielding to sachin. But sachin's records and results has shown sachin being more consistent in batting than sanath & that would be the sole reason to put him together with Sanath as the best ever odi players in history. But I am happy he finally decided to retir.I don't like him also to make the mistake santh did his last days by staying too long. greatness will be covered by greediness people often talk about.people talk how greedy these players but the forget how great these players were and how hard for a great player to think it's time to go when they have dominated the game for so long.

POSTED BY
BellCurve
on | December 23, 2012, 20:15 GMT

SRT played 51 ODIs against SA/Aus in SA/Aus; in those matches he scored 2 centuries and averaged 27. What does that tell us? Simply that he was ineffective against quality bowling on fast tracks. His stats are simply a function of opening the batting many, many times on slow, flat and low sub continent tracks. His one of the best of his generation. But his is certainly not ahead of the pack as the author of this article claims.

POSTED BY
SundarSP
on | December 23, 2012, 20:14 GMT

@GerrardLK : Centuries against Aus:9, Ban: 1, Eng: 2, Ken: 4, Namibia: 1, Nz: 5, Pak: 5, SA: 5, SL: 8, WI: 4, Zim: 5. with reference to these numbers, it would be great if you explain what is minnows meant to u. only against SA, his average drops below 40..... 35.73 which is still not bad for ODI.

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 19:30 GMT

The best Batsmen In the World Hands Down!

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 23, 2012, 19:11 GMT

@uppercut - your statement " it just shows that he plays for himself, when he does well and team doesn't :D) like many of ur indian fans wud agree!" so what do you want to convey... if team does nt do well, Sachin should not do well too?? what an stupid argument....??? can you gather one more person who says Sanath is better than Sachin... come out of your cave.............

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 23, 2012, 19:09 GMT

@Uppercut07 - best all rounder ??? in the entire context of the game, shud be good in tests as well?? so whats up with Sanath there... abt turning the matches around. that is what is called as MOM.. which Sachin does it every 7th match and Sanath does it every 10th match.. come up with something else dude.. ....

POSTED BY
Vikram_Rathore
on | December 23, 2012, 19:02 GMT

There used to be a time, when if Tendulkar got out, we would switch off the TV or start watching something else. As just 1 man, he could make a difference. Grew up watching this genius, feeling blessed to have lived during the same era. Thank you Sachin... for much too often lighting up a billion dreams...

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 18:59 GMT

If Hashim Amla keeps playing the way he is, he will score more centuries and runs than Tendulkar.

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 18:54 GMT

Some of the wicked persons who never faced an international Ball want him to retire................
Now all of them will regret........
Whole World will miss you in ODIs..........
You are the Heart, Rhythm, Feel, Fight, Happiness, Entertainment of this Nation................
We enjoy each and every seconds of you in the Cricket Field.......
All the very Best for your Test career........
We love you & eager to see ' The Maestro ' :-)

POSTED BY
Akash_23
on | December 23, 2012, 18:48 GMT

It's terrible that people call him greedy, scored against minnows, selfish for personal records etc. He is a true legend, whose each run has contributed to our team. It's not easy to play for 23 years, and he has won us matches against great teams. Blessed are people like me, who got a chance to follow cricket in this era where we witnessed this legend play, watching him live and praising his records.

POSTED BY
johnmal
on | December 23, 2012, 18:46 GMT

Amazing career and there is no comparison ...what is sad and a bad reflection on India as a team that they did not win as much with such a great player in the ranks..

POSTED BY
Ram-D
on | December 23, 2012, 18:43 GMT

@ GerrardLK - Sachin scored more runs than any other batsmen against Aus (avg 56). So we can't say that he scored most runs against minnows (unless Aus is a minnow in sub continent). Ricky was part of a great team - excellent bowlers, batsmen and fielders, which was never the case for Sachin. For most of his career he carried the expectations of billion Indians. Any thing less then a 100 is considered as a failure. No other player in the world had to perform with so much pressure. Let's not compare players but appreciate what they did (providing entertainment).

POSTED BY
Uppercut07
on | December 23, 2012, 18:41 GMT

@hariharan that's wat am talking abt players like Sanath, Viv had the ABILITY to win the matches ON THEIR OWN, something Sachin never had.
However i do acknowledge the fact he IS the most succesful batsman in cricket.
That does not make him the greatest ODI player. That honour goes to Sanath hands down. He cud turn the game with bat, as well as the ball.
And greatest test player wud be Kallis!

POSTED BY
RickyPontingLoser
on | December 23, 2012, 18:32 GMT

Ponting is just a poor human being. That in itself, disqualifies him from any accolade.

POSTED BY
RickyPontingLoser
on | December 23, 2012, 18:30 GMT

@GerrardLK

Your comment does nothing to prove your ability to read and interpret numbers.

POSTED BY
Uppercut07
on | December 23, 2012, 18:26 GMT

@hariharan that's wat am talking abt players like Sanath, Viv had the ABILITY to win the matches ON THEIR OWN, something Sachin never had.
However i do acknowledge the fact he IS the most succesful batsman in cricket.
That does not make him the greatest ODI player. That honour goes to Sanath hands down. He cud turn the game with bat, as well as the ball.
And greatest test player wud be Kallis!

POSTED BY
warneneverchuck
on | December 23, 2012, 18:25 GMT

At last best batsman cricket has ever seen retires

POSTED BY
Bonnie1976
on | December 23, 2012, 18:23 GMT

GerrardLK.. you seem to have some prejudice towards Sachin and respect towards ponting. Just to remind you Sachin has 9 centuries against Ponting's Australia. If sachin had struggled in Australia then Ponting had struggled in India. Also ponting never faced Mcgrath or warne but sachin did and scored against them.
Sachin is not like ponting in behavior and conduct on and off the field.

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 18:14 GMT

Uppercut07-Cricket is a 11 men game..If he scores a century and still India loses,what the hell did other 10 People were doing in that match..Is he only one playing the match.Just think before u talk.Who said in our country all will accept that SRT is selffish its a stupid thing..dont blabber without knwing the game.Plz

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 18:13 GMT

i agree wid u deathknell...........that is why ponting took a sharp dip mainly after warne, mgrath, gilly, hayden retired after 2007.. Sachin never had stiff support from his teammates..........for eg. during his 100th 100, ban were set a winning total of 290....stilll it was chased...#courtesy ind bowlers........wc 2003 final...ind bowlers were smashed for 360.....sachin got out in pirsuit of quick runs.....wc 2011 match vs SA....sachin scored century & got out on score of 267/2.......other batsman were bundled out for 296......and & bowlers were pathetic to defend what was still a par score........evry players perfomance shud be accompanied by some other peformances also...& that is what dint happend in those losses wid sachin's 16 centuries.....that is whhat happened wid mahela in wc 2011 final

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 18:03 GMT

He is the GOD OF CRICKET!!

POSTED BY
GerrardLK
on | December 23, 2012, 17:59 GMT

An average player who scored majority of the centuries against the minnows & that's where his success rate in winning matches have contributed big time. Generally other legends avoid playing against minnows & give chances for youngsters. But Sachin was very greedy in his personal records & never missed a match against minnow teams & this is why his batting stats are much higher than others. His captaincy & fielding skills are much below par & no way of comparison to Sir Ricky Ponting. That concludes, by far Ponting has achieved more than Sachin in the game of cricket.

POSTED BY
RockcityGuy
on | December 23, 2012, 17:55 GMT

@uppercut dude honestly..what did dhoni do apart from the final???? Check your facts...sachin was the leading run scorer for india in the tournament...respect a legend..whichever country...if not plz do not enter this forum...no one cares about your opinion which pales in comparison to 18,426 runs and 49 hundreds...

POSTED BY
KingOwl
on | December 23, 2012, 17:48 GMT

I think Sachin's achievements in terms of sheer statistics are outstanding. There is no doubt that he is one of the greatest batsmen ever. But what I am not sure of is whether he is a top class match winner. I cannot help but feel that Sachin's centuries led to losses against strong sides on too many occasions. I think that was because of his obsession with stats. In fact in a strange way, his stats make him a bit less of a batsman than he ought to have been. I am also not sure that the world will miss him as a one day batsmen, like it did when people like Lara, Glichrist and Jayasooriya retired. Anyway, he played cricket for such a long time and that is something that may not be matched by others for a long time.

POSTED BY
realfan
on | December 23, 2012, 17:45 GMT

many people here mentioning sachin's centuries against minnows, Its as if its a crime to score century against them. as if only sachin scored against them. he scored nine centuries against MIGHTY australia , well australia WAS not a MINNOW team..... guys grow up.

those one or two, who hates sachin can do( as if its going to do any harm to his massive respect from billions of fans) . atleast try to grow up...

POSTED BY
Uppercut07
on | December 23, 2012, 17:38 GMT

@deathknell, it just shows that he plays for himself, when he does well and team doesn't :D) like many of ur indian fans wud agree!

@ Uppercut07 sri lanka has best ever bowler murali thats y u r able to come up with stats of jayasuriya tendulkar has 21 centuries over jayasuriya still u people talk some thing non sense. the real thing is u may not like india that implies srt

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 23, 2012, 17:19 GMT

@Xylo - now u are next in the queue.... so lets talk abt other aspects... SRT took 200 wickets (150+50 approx) in total...and he played #4 in tests (while ricky at 3) and still on top of Ricky... if u wud like to compare...then u have to bring the team composition/ opponents both have faced..etc. etc.. Ricky scoring 100/ doing well against India is much much easier than SRT doing the same against Aus...& he does it with such an ease you almost forget this parameter and this goes with every other team considering the Aussie domination (so many supporting hands for Ricky) during the era in world cricket.. gilly/haydoos wud have teared the opposition apart before ricky gets in for a feast....or McG,Warne, Gil & co would have smashed the oppn for a paltry total which is further worsened by Aus batsmen and then comes Ricky to complete the formalities....

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 23, 2012, 17:07 GMT

@Uppercut07 - MOM is given to the player who made his team win that match. MOS is given to the player who was best in the entire series... so you answered your own question...despite SRT being the best, his team could not win... this does nt make him less (than any other player)..whether the team wins or not, he gives the best and he is the best... what next??? waiting for another joke from you....

POSTED BY
xylo
on | December 23, 2012, 16:55 GMT

In the midst of appreciation of his stats, lets not lose perspective as well. People tend to compare him with Ponting invariably even though Ponting batted at #3. His fielding exploits are not being mentioned, which is a facet that Ricky Ponting smoked everyone else comfortably. Also, the effects of additional responsibility that is captaincy.

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 16:48 GMT

Hats off to Sachin Tendulkar for the service he has done to World Cricket. Sachin could have walked away after a match with lots of celebrations !!!

POSTED BY
Uppercut07
on | December 23, 2012, 16:43 GMT

@deathknell, Sachin winning more MoM awards doesn't mean India won ALL those matches. For example Sachin won Player of the series in '03 WC, but India LOST!

When Sanath won Player of the series in '96 WC SL WON!!!

Sachin had to wait 22 years to win a WC, that to thanks to Dhoni.

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 16:35 GMT

these stacked record one after another is mountain to climb not everyone can climb but to wonder from distance. ODI matches without Sachin will never be the same any more.

POSTED BY
here2rock
on | December 23, 2012, 16:27 GMT

@ Paul Argyle, he played for 23 year, it is a tribute to his longevity. Not many players can maintain the consistency for that long. It is easy to say that Brian Lara or someone else could have scored more runs but the fact is that they did not for whatever reasons (age, injuries etc.). He stands tall among all and always will. Enjoy your retirement great man and thank you for the memories.

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 23, 2012, 16:21 GMT

Uppercut07 - contribution to team's success is measured by Man of the match, not by number of centuries or the %, etc etc...SRT has most MOMs in the world cricket.. and just to reiterate, if an avg is taken (to the number of matches he played), his avg is much higher than the next player..hope this information keeps you busy for while to find what combination would show SRT less than others....ROFL....

POSTED BY
here2rock
on | December 23, 2012, 16:20 GMT

I am totally blown away by the stats! Wishing you happy retirement and thank you for the memories.

POSTED BY
harshthakor
on | December 23, 2012, 16:20 GMT

Tendulkar combined the creative genius and destructive ability of Viv Richards with the technical prowess of Sunil Gavaskar.Sachin was like a clinical surgeon and musical composer rolled into one.He was simply the equivalent of Don Bradman to one day cricket.Above all 33 of his centuries were match-winning affairs and he averaged 56 in matches won,23 more than in games lost.Sachin posessed every aspect of the perfect one day batsman,be it consistency ,temperament, innovative ability or concentration.

To me only Viv Richards challenges Sachin with his greater match-winning prowess ,imagination and destructive ability.In statistics Tendulkar is without doubt head and shoulders above any batsman dominating the game like an invincible emperor.Like a Muhammad Ali to one day Cricket ,being at the top for 22 years.

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 16:12 GMT

Sad day to Cricket, don't,want to see him go the same way in Tests

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 23, 2012, 16:05 GMT

@Uppercut07 - why is Sanath not playing now???? just dont bring in some comments for the sake of doing so...the point is most of Sachin's centuries helped his country win, the rest saved his country from blushes...for that matter...I dont know where this kind of stats comes from... may be from clans, which want some x,y,z to be shown better than SRT in someway (because in every way he is better)... a 100 is a 100..if the team loses, then that has to be read as - team was in such a disaster situation, where even a century could not save it....

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 16:01 GMT

@uppercut:::: Some players have hit 2 or 3 centuries .... wr team has won all those matches & they have 100% record , which s better than sanath... SACHIN is one kind.... all other players r different kind... sanath has contributed to srilanka,,,,, its like sanath a SACHIN of SRILANKA !!!! pls dont compare any 1 with sachin !!!

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 15:55 GMT

greatest cricketer of all time..records speaks for the man..

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 15:42 GMT

I doubt for one moment that SRT will go down and certainly after he finishes
completely as one of the greatest batsmen of all time (Note: not THE but ONE
of them as there other players of his & other era(s) who deserve parity with
him and while his stats are hugely & uniquely impressive the fact of the matter
is his numbers have been achieved because he has played the longest, batted
appreciably more times than his contemporaries and has got his runs from No.1
to No.4 in the order. Its not rocket (cricketing) science to work out that with a
23 year career; significantly longer than Lara, Ponting, Kallis etc you are going
to play a LOT of cricket and enjoy a LOT of batting opportunities and by
definition if you stick around that long in the international scene then you will
break records.Without undermining his achievements in any way - they will
almost certainly never be surpassed - they do however need to be kept in
context.

@uppercut07 yes, Sanath is one of the greatest in odis along with sachin, but sachin played well in both tests and one dayers, and there lies all the difference

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 15:38 GMT

@EnglishCricket: Dude, get your stats right the next time you talk or post something. List for ignorant's like you: Aus:9, SL:8, SA:5, Pak:5, NZ:5, WI:4, Eng:2, Zim:5, Others:6. Even the 5 against Zim were, when zim were dangerous. So, can you explain your 1/5 comment. And more: Tendulkar scored 33 of his 49 centuries in wins, and averaged more than 56 in team wins, at a strike rate of 90. Clearly, in the overall context of his lengthy career, his runs led to wins more often that not--cricinfo

POSTED BY
ArsalanMujahidGhouri
on | December 23, 2012, 15:32 GMT

after heart, his stats also showing that he is GOD :)

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 23, 2012, 15:31 GMT

@Sieon Anthonio Bastiani - it is for people like you, they have something called Avg. and if we have to considered that, then SRT stands much taller than what is he now... by any law, it will only decrease as players get aged, when you want consider other batsmen.. (for ex Ricky) imagine what would be the avg in case he plays another couple of years...at the end of it, avg would've gone down drastically..

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 15:10 GMT

No other cricketer can be as complete as Sachin is. With his best records against the top team unlike the minnows, one shud undrstnd the quality of his run-making. He is not vulnerable to any kind of deliveries like the modern cricketers. Can hit the ball anywhr and anytime. Tats what u cal as class.. Once Bhogle said, when we were expecting a cover drive, he surprises us with a on-drive. Thats the ability and his confidence. U may hang up your boots, but u stole my heart (with tears).

POSTED BY
Uppercut07
on | December 23, 2012, 15:09 GMT

@Sai Ram, of 28 Jayasuriya's ODI centuries, 24 of them came in SL victories, compared to 33 of 49 Tendulkar centuries, Calculate the %, u'll see Sanath had a way greater IMPACT on SL wins than Sachin on Indian wins!

dont for get his 300+ WICKETS!!!!!!

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 15:07 GMT

Aila..Take a bow sach..... words fail me at this moment in time, to say the least..

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 14:56 GMT

yeah right arent there more than 1/5 of the total teams that are weak.Moreover why dont other batsmen core centuries against these so called weak teams.Might be they are too full of themselves and underestimating some teams as weak....:(

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 14:51 GMT

@uppercut07 - lol joke of the year. anyways, sachin has contributed so much for India, he will definitely be the greatest ODI cricketer ever. Jayasuriya, Gilchrist, Gayle and Anwar are great, but none match Tendulkar's class and calibre.

POSTED BY
Texmex
on | December 23, 2012, 14:49 GMT

A phenomenal player. Clearly the stats show that he was responsible for a lot of wins contrary to some people's beliefs......

POSTED BY
stark-truth
on | December 23, 2012, 14:47 GMT

Sir Vivian Alexander Richards is the greatest ODI player of all time, and by some margin. Averaging 47 with a S/R of 90 in that era of better and fresher fast bowlers, no plethora of minnows, no field restrictions, no number of bouncers' restrictions, no carpet outfields, not such powerful bats and so on. Not a bad bowler too...by the way, one of the few to have scored a ton and a five-wicket haul in the same match..

@ Sieon Anthonio Bastiani .....indeed he has played hundred innings or more but his averages have not come down! think about this too well do it only if you are capable of doing so!

POSTED BY
HURRICANE.Sehwag
on | December 23, 2012, 14:02 GMT

Not only that nobody can even come close to his acheievements but also nobody can even come close enough to describe this great man. For me Sachin is Cricket.

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 14:00 GMT

To all those who argue that his runs did not contribute to victory..

POSTED BY
DeathKnell
on | December 23, 2012, 13:57 GMT

@Sieon Anthonio Bastiani - it is for people like you, they have something called Avg. and if we have to considered that, then SRT stands much taller than what is he now... by any law, it will only decrease as players get aged, when you want consider other batsmen.. (for ex Ricky) imagine what would be the avg in case he plays another couple of years...at the end of it, avg would've gone down drastically..

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 13:44 GMT

Can u pls share the stats for run chase also?

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 13:42 GMT

not smalling any of his efforts , want to remind the posters a couple of things.

1. The rules of ODI changed in 1991 with field restrictions ,which later extended to powerplays and so on. a closer look would tell you that ODI was adapted to be a batsman's came as he evolved.
2. Unfortunately thats what puts Jayasuriya also in the same bracket as sachin.
3. Look at the batsman of his era. In respective orders they hold the top positions in all statistical merits.

when you take contributions for the team cause and % of success that is where Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Mahela Jayawardene, Saeed anwar, Brian Lara stand out at equal standards.

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 13:42 GMT

This article is a *FACEPALM* to the people who continously harp about Sachin having never won any game for India and he being a selfish player who played just for personal glory...I can just LOL at those who have been saying this endlessly for the last 3 years or so and would like to recommend them to read the above article
@Sieon Anthonio Bastiani on (December 23 2012, 12:28 PM GMT) yes i do agree the extra number of innings played by Sachin need to be taken into consideration but does not playing more innings by the master make it increasingly difficult to maintain the high average? and he has been able to maintain an edge over others as far as even the average is concerned...so that's even more credit to him.

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 13:39 GMT

To all those who argue that his runs did not contribute to victory..

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 13:16 GMT

The guy is greatest of them all. Such consistency and Longevity. Absolute Legend. Miss you so much #srt

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 13:15 GMT

This ones for all those so called critics of the great man, who loved running down the man's greatness!

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 12:40 GMT

People and numbers, both say that Tendulkar is the greatest batsman ever played cricket (in the modern era).

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 12:28 GMT

all i see is that sachin played in many instances a hundred more innings or double the amount of most person. theses things must be looked at relative to innings.

POSTED BY
Just_love_it
on | December 23, 2012, 12:11 GMT

NO ifs and buts simply THE Best ODI player ever !

POSTED BY
Monif
on | December 23, 2012, 12:10 GMT

He was the best ODI player of hie genre. But 33 centuries on winning side does contain 9 against minnows(1-Namibia,4-Kenya,4-Zimbabwe), yet its 24 way ahead of others as ponting does have scored against Zimbabwe. But its good that he retired now at least from ODI. I have doubt as on Saturday he made himself available for ODI against Pakistan, So,there is confusion that he may be dropped. Waiting to complete his 200 test, so that he can retire from test also, but that will then have a big void in Indian cricket as only Kohli seems to be good all others are average now a days. Best of Luck to him in rest of his life

Viv Richards was more devastating
Hayden was more destructive
Ponting finished more games
Lara won more games "single-handedly"
Dravid was more reliable
Kallis is a better all-round cricketer
Ganguly was a better leader

There you go.......thats what it takes to beat Sachin Tendulkar. A clone of the above players......and more!
And just FYI, I dont consider him to be God like others. Just another human being, who showed us that we humans can play God.

POSTED BY
vxttemp
on | December 24, 2012, 15:37 GMT

I never really understood the pressure on Sampras until I was awaiting for my results and everyone was expecting me to get top rank. Mine was just a college. Imagine a billion people expecting a 100 every time he goes. Think about the bowling attack of India from 1989.

He was the best ODI player of hie genre. But 33 centuries on winning side does contain 9 against minnows(1-Namibia,4-Kenya,4-Zimbabwe), yet its 24 way ahead of others as ponting does have scored against Zimbabwe. But its good that he retired now at least from ODI. I have doubt as on Saturday he made himself available for ODI against Pakistan, So,there is confusion that he may be dropped. Waiting to complete his 200 test, so that he can retire from test also, but that will then have a big void in Indian cricket as only Kohli seems to be good all others are average now a days. Best of Luck to him in rest of his life

POSTED BY
Just_love_it
on | December 23, 2012, 12:11 GMT

NO ifs and buts simply THE Best ODI player ever !

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 12:28 GMT

all i see is that sachin played in many instances a hundred more innings or double the amount of most person. theses things must be looked at relative to innings.

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 12:40 GMT

People and numbers, both say that Tendulkar is the greatest batsman ever played cricket (in the modern era).

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 13:15 GMT

This ones for all those so called critics of the great man, who loved running down the man's greatness!

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 13:16 GMT

The guy is greatest of them all. Such consistency and Longevity. Absolute Legend. Miss you so much #srt

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 13:39 GMT

To all those who argue that his runs did not contribute to victory..

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 13:42 GMT

This article is a *FACEPALM* to the people who continously harp about Sachin having never won any game for India and he being a selfish player who played just for personal glory...I can just LOL at those who have been saying this endlessly for the last 3 years or so and would like to recommend them to read the above article
@Sieon Anthonio Bastiani on (December 23 2012, 12:28 PM GMT) yes i do agree the extra number of innings played by Sachin need to be taken into consideration but does not playing more innings by the master make it increasingly difficult to maintain the high average? and he has been able to maintain an edge over others as far as even the average is concerned...so that's even more credit to him.

POSTED BY
on | December 23, 2012, 13:42 GMT

not smalling any of his efforts , want to remind the posters a couple of things.

1. The rules of ODI changed in 1991 with field restrictions ,which later extended to powerplays and so on. a closer look would tell you that ODI was adapted to be a batsman's came as he evolved.
2. Unfortunately thats what puts Jayasuriya also in the same bracket as sachin.
3. Look at the batsman of his era. In respective orders they hold the top positions in all statistical merits.

when you take contributions for the team cause and % of success that is where Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Mahela Jayawardene, Saeed anwar, Brian Lara stand out at equal standards.